CHAPTER SIX: THE TOUCH. OR, IN WHICH WHEN ALL HELL IS BREAKING LOOSE YOU’LL BE RIDING THE EYE OF THE STORM
“I thought you were made of sterner stuff.”- Optimus Prime, heroic leader of the Autobots.
“You never bend, you never break!/You seem to know just what it takes... You're a fighter!/
It's in the blood, it's in the will!/It's in the mighty hands of steel... When you're standin' you're ground!/And you never get hit, when your back's to the wall! /Gonna fight to the end, and you're takin' it all!/You got the Touch, you got the power!/When all hell's breakin' loose, you'll be ridin' the eye of the storm!/You got the heart, you got the motion!/You know that when things get too tough, you got the Touch!” - Stan Bush, “The Touch”
Panic. Confusion. Disorientation. Fear. Dread.
That seemed to be going through the heads of the various people that made up the six thousand plus rural town in east central Alberta town. Best known as the home to the world’s largest pysanka, or Easter egg, it may now be know as the town where the people will be affected by radioactive ash while the City of Champions becomes a nuclear crater.
Joanne Carlson was one of the people. She was having a nice lunch with Kevin. Yes, he was the same age of her newest future manager, but it was nice knowing she was still attractive. She wasn’t sure if this would turn into something serious, but she was going to enjoy his company for the time being.
Lunch was at a new Chinese restaurant that opened up in town. Kevin had not tried it yet and was curious to see if their ginger beef is better than some of the places he knew in Edmonton. Plus, he got Ariel a job there as well. Since he had be designated a guardian of sorts to her, Ariel had been living at Kevin’s apartment in town. Since it was made clear by her and the late Beardo that Kevin’s genes were not to be desired, he felt safe keeping her there. That, and Kevin highly doubt Dean and Karen would have wanted to take her in.
The date was going fine until Kevin noticed a gaggle of local townspeople gathering around two of the television sets that permeated the walls of the restaurant. He excused himself to go see what the commotion was about.
One of the locals called out “Turn the sound on!” Kevin looked and saw it was on CTV NewsNet and saw the scrawling message on their bottom news ticker:
“…U.S/Iran confrontation in Middle East. Tel Aviv, Jerusalem hit by ICBMs. Canadian troops fight Taliban suicide carbombers in Kandahar….”
“No…” Kevin whispered to himself. “Nothing’s ready. Guess we go ahead with whatever we have and scrounge up what we can later.” He returned to the table and then told Joanne “I’m sorry to cut this date short, but if you value the life of you and your daughters…” he then pulled out a pen and wrote what appeared to be a legal land description. “You will take them here. Dean will be more than glad to give you better directions.” He noticed Ariel bussing away some dirty dishes
“Ariel!” Kevin called to her. She quickly came towards him. Kevin handed some keys to her. “Take my Focus. Drive out to the farm, make sure the gate is open and start getting things ready. I need to look after stuff here first, okay?”
She nodded obediently like a dog. Kevin then ran out, leaving Joanne confused as to what was going on. It wasn’t until she was driving back from the store and listening to the radio before going into a “men are such assholes” rant. Maybe this asshole cares about me after all Joanne thought as she drove home to hopefully save her families life.
Dean and Karen were busy packing things in a hurry.
“Okay, five CDs, go!” Dean said.
“Uhm… Alanis Morrisette’s ‘Jagged Little Pill’, Sheryl Crow’s ‘The Globe Sessions’, Duran Duran’s greatest hits, and the soundtracks to The Lion King and High School Musical” Karen replied. “You?” she asked back.
“Hmmm…. Okay – Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side of the Moon’, The Tragically Hip’s ‘Fully Completely’, Pearl Jam’s ‘Yield’, Britney Spears’ greatest hits, and for shear irony, U2’s ‘How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb”
“Nice. Okay, five movies. Sequels or series don’t count so no Bond or Harry Potter or Star Trek.”
“Shit! Uhhh… let’s see – ‘Pulp Fiction’, ‘Full Metal Jacket, ‘The Wizard of Oz’, ‘Chasing Amy’, and once again for the irony, ‘The Day the Earth Stood Still’.”
“All right, smartass. Five books then…” Karen said as she was grabbing the respective movies and CDs from the shelves.
“… ‘Animal Farm’, ‘Watership Down’, ‘Cat’s Cradle’, ‘Lord of the Flies’, and ‘Brave New World’.” Dean said while finishing packing suitcases full of clothes and toiletries. “You never gave me your five movies and books there, Kare Bare.”
“Trust me, love. You’ll be surprised.”
Donnie Bellum was simply relaxing at home with his three year old daughter Hailey. When his phone rang, he recognized the number on the caller ID as being Kevin’s cell phone number. “Why did we ever keep our number listed?” Donnie muttered to himself, trying to keep the language clean around the little set of ears, and knew he had do the same while on the phone.
“Hello…. What do you mean ‘run’? No, I haven’t been paying attention to the news… you got to be kidding me… You want me to go where? No I just can’t get up and leave here. God, what is wrong with you? Okay, I’ll try and see if Sarah can get off early and we’ll meet you guys. Okay? Bye!” was the conversation that Donnie had with Kevin. He then got another phone call, this time from Joanne. “Hello? What do you mean he abandoned the store? He called and said there’s what happeneing?! Oh Jesus… well, I got a call from his friend to tell me to run. I dunno if we’re going to do or not. Well, I guess if we all live through this we’ll discuss it afterwards. Bye.” His conversation with his boss was now done and Donnie too was in panic mode.
For a few moments after making the calls, Kevin sat in his F250 Ford truck. If he was going to save the lives He sat there with his iPod in his right hand, trying to select a track that would be apropos for the moment.
Kevin was talking to himself “No. No. Maybe. Save this when we’re all in the shelter. Ah hah! This will do!” The song he had chosen was Stan Bush’s “The Touch”.
“All right Stanley my boy” Kevin said in a cheesy superhero-like voice “Let’s go save some lives today!”
Ariel made her way back to her old home. She saw no signs of Eugene or her father. Maybe they’re in the shelter already. She thought to herself, trying to deny the events that happened only a few days ago. She knew Kevin was trying to protect her from the potential awful truth. While to be honest, Kevin had returned the following day to dispose of the bodies. That was one of the advantages of having a well wooded yard that was close to a river: makes it easier to hide dirty secrets. While it still confused the lady, Ariel would not let on that she had no idea what really went on that night. For quite some time, the Beardo talked about ending his own life and the life of his first born son. While she could play the naïve, innocent look around her new guardian, she was finally free and allowed to grieve over their deaths.
“Selfish bastard!” she screamed into the heavens. She ran onto the porch of the house where she had lived most of her life, slumped into a corner and began to sob uncontrollably. She knew she had to get it out of her system before her new family arrives. She did not want to show weakness in front of her new protector, Kevin. Ariel sensed that he enjoyed feeling important, which was probably why the Beardo chose him to be the new estate holder.
Dean and Karen were along Highway 45, making their way to what could be their new home. For how long, who could tell? Karen was a little concerned when Dean did not make the turn off that would take them to the Beardo’s compound.
“You missed the turn-off” Karen stated.
“I know, but before we go there, I need to take care of something.” Dean said as he cleared his throat.
Karen sensed a little bit of fear and doubt in Dean’s voice. “I don’t think he’s going to go for it.” She tried to say without being too pessimistic.
“Who can really tell? Maybe the fact we’re all about to become radioactive zombies will motivate him to try and reconcile.” Dean said back.
Their dark green Ford Explorer made another turn off onto a short gravel road. Dean then parked in front of a gated driveway. The gate was locked and closed as he stepped out of the vehicle. Dean looked around and surveyed the yard. Hasn’t changed much since I was last here, he thought to himself. His old childhood home. Maybe with the end of life as it is known would somehow motivate both he and his father to forgive each other for the stupid things they have done to each other. He looked afar at the house, he saw his father sitting on the deck. The man who had raised Dean from birth until their falling out simply got up and went inside the house. No effort to go unlock the gate or any real recognition of who was standing at the gate. It was pretty clear what the message was. Dean returned to his SUV and opened the door. “Open the glove compartment there” he requested to Karen who then obliged. He then went on to instruct her: “There should be a roll of tape and a sealed envelope in there. Pass them here please.” Karen obeyed diligently as she handed the two items over to Dean. He walked over to the gate and taped the envelope onto one of the metal bars that made up.
“Don’t ever fucking say I tried to make things right while choking on radioactive dust!” Dean muttered under his breath as he made his way back to his vehicle. He got in, took a deep breath and sighed. Karen knew that Dean was still hurting as she wrapped her arm around his broad shoulders. “You tried at least and he wanted nothing to do with it.” Karen reassured him. “Try not to let it bring you down too much.”
Dean fought off some tears. “I know. I tried. Let’s go. Maybe the Williams line won’t die tonight” he said with a smile.
Ariel was still crying in the corner of the porch when she heard a vehicle pull up. She got up and noticed it was Kevin. It was now time for her to stop showing signs of emotion. As his truck pulled up further into the yard, Ariel ran out to greet Kevin.
“Is anyone else here yet?” Kevin asked Ariel.
“No. You’re the first one here.” Ariel answered back.
“Fuck. I was listening to the radio. Apparently missiles are heading towards Edmonton. There is probably like 30 minutes left! Fuck! Don’t people want to live?”
While Kevin was pacing back and forth, he then saw Dean’s Explorer pull in.
“Oh thank god!” Kevin exclaimed as Dean and Karen got out and started removing their packed bags.
“There isn’t much time!” Kevin yelled as he was running towards them. “Just leave your stuff and follow us to the bunker!”
Dean and Karen began to run with the bags they had in their hands.
“Where’s the temp?” Kevin asked Dean.
“Joanne thought it would be beneficiary to have someone at the store.” Dean replied.
“God that woman just ruined parts of my plans! She’s quite difficult I tell you.”
“You’d still tap it though, wouldn’t you?” Dean asked slyly.
“Tap it and hit it out of the park like a Barry Bonds homerun!” Kevin replied back with a smile.
The foursome made their way towards the back of the farmyard and towards a semi-dilapidated barn.
“This way,” Ariel directed them as she cleared off some old branches that covered a hatch that appeared to be a door from an old helicopter. “It’s just down this hole.”
Everyone climbed down the ladder Kevin went down first, followed by Dean and then Karen. Ariel was the last one as she closed the hatch. Inside the initially dark cavernous hallway, Kevin took out a flashlight and pointed it at what looked like a fuse box. He then flipped some kind of switch on the box as lights and fans came on simultaneously. Ariel came ahead of the group and directed them to follow her. As they made their way down the corridor, Dean could not help but to marvel at the amount of time and detail the Beardo put into this shelter. They then stopped in front of a door which Ariel proceeded to open. In there was four bunk beds, a small table, an old radio and television set and a few boxes of modern day military food rations.
“How much time is left?” Karen asked nervously.
Kevin looked at his watch as he tried to find a radio station. He said then with a slight lump in his throat. “About four minutes.”
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